The Natalie Effect
by xx.Shire.Lily.xx
Summary: Ever wonder what happened during the filming of the Lord of the Rings movies? This is my version!
1. The First Day

Summary:

I've read many stories about adding a girl to the Fellowship, and many are wonderful – some are even my favorite stories out there. But I've always wondered what would happen during the filming of the movies if that were true.

Also, most authors tend for their girls to travel with the 'three hunters'. Since I want mine to be a little different, I originally thought of her tagging along with Frodo and Sam. But then one of the main ideas that started this story was romance, and I wanted my girl to have some sort of romantic relationship with Frodo. Poor Sam (I love him to bits – he's my favorite character, hands down – but he just doesn't work out in this story!) would get left out and such. So, I changed his character to a girl, Lily. To all of my readers who are miffed at the absence of Sam, I'm really sorry! Like I said, he's my favorite character in the trilogy, so it was painful to take him out. But just think of my girl as a female Sam... same lines, same personality, etc.

But since this story is about the filming, not the actual story, I'll leave it to your imaginations what happens along the way. I'm not thinking any major plot changes, though - I'll probably write some bits about shooting my favorite scenes with him, like the Sam's speech in Osgiliath... basically everything's the same. The only difference I can think of is that Lily and Frodo end up getting married at the end and Frodo doesn't sail away to Valinor.

Oh, yes. One more thing before we get to the actual story. Whenever I've used lines from the script, Lily has Sam's.

Chapter One:

Brake lights flashed on the car in front of her, causing Natalie to slam on her own breaks. "Ack. Gotta go, Lucy. I'll call you tomorrow," she said, flipping her cell phone shut. _Must be an accident_, she thought, and immediately she groaned. She was already late for a babysitting job, and this slowing down of traffic was not helping her arrive on time.

As she waited for the cars in front of her to start moving again, Natalie glanced out the window. She had been living in New Zealand for five months already, but the sight of rolling plains bordered in snow-crested mountains always made her stare. Even though she was supposed to be here for school, Natalie found it difficult to study with a view that seemed to come straight out of a fairytale everywhere she looked.

At first, it had been a challenge to convince her parents to let her travel half-way across the globe for a semester abroad – she had only been eighteen, an age they thought to be much too young.

But then a solution presented itself, to Natalie's relief. One evening, she overheard a phone conversation of her dad's with an old neighborhood friend, Sam. She listened curiously, and found out that her father's childhood neighbor still lived in Wellington and would be more than happy to look after Natalie while she studied in New Zealand.

Then, with some much-required begging, thorough convincing, and more reassurance from Sam, Natalie was on her way to her father's native country – one she had always dreamed about. Now her time here was almost up – it was May, and the end of her semester was quickly approaching. As much as she loved this country and the friends she had made here, she missed her home and was looking forward to going home.

Flashing lights brought her back to the present. She was still sitting in her car and unless things started moving soon, she was going to be late for her newest babysitting job.

Natalie had often babysat for Sam's kids, and quickly he started passing on her name to his friends with children. One such couple was Peter Johnson and Fran Wales, who would never hire her again if this traffic didn't start picking up...

As if her thinking had spurred on the cars ahead of her, the line of traffic inched forward. Soon, Natalie could see what had caused the hold-up: Fire trucks and paramedics surrounded a white SUV flipped over upside down.

Natalie heaved a sigh of relief as soon as she passed the accident and traffic became up to speed. _Thank God that wasn't me or anybody I knew back there... _she thought, and then her thoughts became consumed with following her hastily written directions to find the house she was supposed to babysit at.

Only fifteen minutes late, Natalie pulled up in front of a modest cottage home. She flipped down the mirror and tried to smooth her hair out, but giving up, pulled it back into a messy ponytail. Throwing her keys into her purse, Natalie walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell.

After a minute, a motherly-looking woman opened the door. "You must be Kelly! Come on in, come on in! We were just waiting on you – the rest of the actors are already in the basement." _Kelly? Actors? Basement? _Before Natalie could puzzle out what this woman was talking about or even correct her, she was ushered into the hall.

"Um... I... I'm not Kelly." That was the only thing Natalie could think of to say. "My name's Natalie Summers... do I have the wrong house? I thought..." she dug around in her bag, coming up with her directions. "I'm looking for Peter Johnson and Fran Wales' house?"

The woman looked at her strangely. "I'm Fran, dear, but... oh! I'm so sorry, we're having quite problematic day. I'd forgotten that we'd hired a babysitter..." Fran trailed off, distracted. "Well, both kids have gone down for naps..." She trailed off again, giving Natalie a very strange look. Natalie inched towards the door, thinking that she wasn't needed. "But wait! Don't go! This is sort of strange – but have you ever heard that Pete and I are making movies of _The Lord of the Rings _books?"

"Yeah, I read something in the newspaper. I don't really know the storyline or anything about them, though," Natalie admitted. Fran was eyeing her in that strange way again.

"No bother. You're the right age, you'll do," she said, taking Natalie's arm and dragging her towards the stairwell, and started to ramble. "Peter and I are working on a new project – we're making movie versions of the books. We're having a read-through today, and of course the actress who we've cast as Lily hasn't showed up yet. Would you mind terribly if I asked you to read for her until she arrives? I'll pay you the same as if you were watching the kids."

Natalie's mouth dropped open. "Me? Read for a movie? Um, I'm sorry, but that's not really my thing..."

"Please? Just until Kelly shows up. We're way behind schedule already and really need someone just to read the lines," Fran begged.

"Um, okay, I guess I will," Natalie replied, taken aback. Immediately, she wished she could bite her words back – the thing she hated most in the world was speaking in front of other people.

"Great!" Fran said, and then started briefing the young girl on what was happening as she led her downstairs.

"Right now, we're having a read-through for _The Fellowship of the Ring _– the first book. Peter's directing, and I've been working on the script. We're not set to film until October, but we're having a few read-throughs with the main actors this week." Natalie and Fran had reached the bottom of the stairs, and Natalie glanced around. All of the furniture had been moved to form a large circle encompassing most of the rectangular room.

Natalie felt the urge to hide behind Fran as the people filling the room looked up at their entrance. At a loss for what to do, she froze, staring at the carpet.

"This is Natalie Summers, one of our babysitters. She'll be reading for Lily today," Fran announced.

Natalie apprehensively raised her gaze off of the floor. Over twenty pairs of eyes met hers and she immediately went back to studying the tan and brown-flecked carpeting. She berated herself for not putting more effort into her looks today. She tried to smooth down the lumps in her ponytail, but short of whipping a brush out of thin air and starting over, there was no hope in fixing it.

"You're not Kelly Townsend," Peter said, looking at her for the first time.

"Kelly still hasn't arrived and I'm about to try and call her, but Natalie is going to fill in until she gets here," Fran explained.

_What have I gotten myself into?_ she wondered over and over. It was the only coherent thought running through her mind. Natalie was shy – any sane person could see that clearly – and because of that shyness, she had never acted before. Even though she'd always wanted to, she could never get enough courage to audition for any school musical, much less perform in front of anyone. And now all eyes in the room were focused on her. Natalie felt her heart beat quicker as her anxiety heightened.

Her plan had been to come over, baby-sit Fran's children, and make enough money to go see a movie with her girlfriends this weekend. She didn't sign up to read a real movie script with real actors. All of them still stared at her and it made her even more self-conscious. Why did she let Fran talk her into coming downstairs?

"You can go sit in the big red chair over there, Natalie… by Elijah, the boy with dark hair," Fran whispered, shoving a heavy packet of papers into her arms. With a gentle push, Fran pointed her in the direction of the chair.

Natalie hurried there as fast as she could, trying to avoid meeting any gazes or speaking. She plopped into the chair and gripped the booklet so tight her knuckles turned white. This was her worst nightmare. Really, it was. In a room stuffed to the corners with people she didn't know and having to speak in front of them… she weighed the options of bolting out of the room and sprinting all the way back to her apartment.

The stairs were in the farthest corner away. Darn. She wouldn't be able to get out of here unnoticed, after all. She'd be lucky to get through the obstacle course of chairs and couches without tripping. That would make her even more conspicuous, if that was possible. Double darn.

Pretending to study the manuscript, Natalie peered at the actors surrounding her from under her eyelashes, hoping that they wouldn't notice they were being watched.

Only one person in the entire room looked to be around her age – the boy next to her. He was currently entertaining a few of the other actors by balancing a Coke can on his forehead. The rest of the basement's occupants seemed to be in their late twenties or early thirties. Some were much older than that, around their fifties or sixties.

She looked back at the packet of papers Fran had given her. The top sheet was a list of actors and their roles. Natalie studied it, hoping to memorize at least a few of the names.

**Fellowship**

Frodo Baggins………………………………………………………………………..Elijah West

Lily Proudfoot…………………………………………………………………………Kelly Townsend

Meriadoc (Merry) Brandybuck.........................................…...Dominic Mulligan

Perigrin (Pippin) Took…………………………………………………………….Billy Burby

Aragorn...............................................................................Stuart Taylor

Boromir…………………………………………………………………………..………Sean Baker

Gimli………………………………………………………………………………....…….John Rinehart

Legolas…………………………………………………………………..………………Orlando Brennan

Gandalf the Grey………………………………………………………………………Ian McKenzie

Natalie's head was reeling from all the new funny-sounding names that she couldn't even take in who was who. She attempted to start reading the next section, titled "The Shire and Bree," but Peter's voice made her look up.

"Hey everyone! I think we'll start the reading now," Peter Johnson called out.

Startled at the fact that they were about to begin, Natalie hurriedly flipped through her booklet. She saw other actors doing the same. A couple of the actors across the room were already trading lines back and forth, laughing like this was the easiest thing.

Finally Natalie saw her first pink highlighted line – "I think I'll just have another ale." What kind of character was she reading for? Natalie eyed the packet with new apprehension. She took a deep breath, preparing herself for what was to come. She could do this… she could, she could. At least, she couldn't bail now – she had already said she would do it. She could do it, she could. It was just for today, after all.

**XXX**

**XXX**

Clutching the packet of script in front of her face like a shield, Natalie pretended to read along with the actors. What she really was doing was having a mini freak-out inside of her head.

Her line was coming up.

Natalie marveled at how easy the actors around her made it seem to actually _become_ their character. How on Earth was she, the girl that was too shy to even be a chorus member in the participation-is-not-a-choice fifth grade play, supposed to do this? How was she supposed to say this line in the right spot, with the right timing? How was she supposed to get all the words in the right order? How was she supposed to speak loudly enough that everybody would be able to hear her? What would happen if she opened up her mouth and nothing came out? Natalie didn't think she'd ever been more nervous in her entire life. _Calm down_, she told herself. _You're going to give yourself a panic attack. _Natalie sucked in her breath and tried to focus on the story.

She found that following along was much harder than she had ever anticipated. So many names, so many new places were mentioned. They all sounded weird, too, as if the man who created all this – Tok… no, Tol… oh, she didn't remember – wanted the reader to be as confused as possible.

Lily's entrance was during the party dance. Before she knew it, she was saying the lines.

"Come on, Lily! Dance with me!" Elijah, the dark-haired boy seated next to her, said, a smile on his face. _He's enjoying this_, Natalie thought bewilderedly.

"I think I'll just have another ale…" Natalie quickly said, releasing a sigh she didn't know she'd held in. She'd done it! Said her first line! And she hadn't completely screwed it up! Natalie didn't have time to bask in delight, though, as more highlighted lines were approaching.

"Oh, no you don't. Come on!"

As the people around her advanced through the thick-as-a-dictionary script, Natalie settled back into her chair as she became more and more wrapped up in the tale unfolding before her eyes. It was starting to make more sense now, as long as she could block out the weird names. Some of her apprehension began to disappear. Maybe this wouldn't be so hard…

The next lines with the word 'Lily' in front of them would have made Natalie laugh out loud if she had not been so caught up in the drama unfolding all around her. Even though it was so cliché, the change in her was truly magical. For some reason, it felt like she belonged… that she was finally in a place that she understood. Natalie could hardly figure it out, as she had only said one line so far – and badly, at that – but she felt as if this was what she was supposed to do, that this was the nook she was made to fit into.

Ian McKenzie, the man who played Gandalf, acted like he held a staff in his hands. He then rapped the invisible staff in Natalie's direction.

"Oofff!" Natalie yelped as Ian pretended to drag her up out of a window.

"Confound it all, Lily Proudfoot! Have you been eavesdropping?" he asked her.

"I haven't dropped no eaves, sir, honest. I was just cutting the grass under the window there, if you follow me," Natalie replied, breathlessly. Still going on the feeling she was getting, Natalie embraced acting… she was starting to get the hang of it, too, much to her surprise. She could just imagine how scared Lily would have been feeling.

"A little late for trimming the verge, don't you think?" Ian said, and they carried on through the scene.

**XXX**

**XXX**

A couple of hours later, they were through the booklets, all the way up to the Council of Elrond – half-way through the first film. "Well, I think we got quite a bit accomplished, don't you?" Peter asked the group after they had finished with Pippin's memorable line ("Great! Where are we going?").

Murmurs of agreement and nodded heads answered Peter's question before people started to leave the basement. But faces turned in the direction of Fran's voice when she yelled the reminder "Same place, same time, tomorrow!" after them.

Natalie stood up to leave, but Fran stopped her. "In case we still haven't heard from Kelly by tomorrow, can I call you?" she asked. "I'm starting to get worried about her... anyways, just in case, I'd like to know that we'd have a back up. Are you free tomorrow?"

Natalie bit her lip, thinking back on the read-through. It was the scariest thing she had ever done, but she couldn't help but admit that a little part of her had enjoyed it. "Sure, I guess that's alright." She only had one morning class tomorrow.

"I'm sure we'll hear from Kelly – maybe her plane was delayed or something," Fran said. "So don't worry about it. The next time you hear from me will probably be asking you to babysit! Thanks again, for filling in last minute – you really saved us today."

A/N: To comply with 's rules, I have not used the names of any real people. That is why all the actors have new names - I hope that works for everyone!


	2. Going Home

Chapter Two:

The call came just as Natalie was leaving campus as she was walking towards her car, chatting with a few friends.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Natalie, this is Fran. We just heard that Kelly Townsend was in a bad car accident and is taking some time off. She won't be playing Lily anymore, and we're really in a tight spot. Can you come over and read for us today? The casting directors are already scouting for a new Lily, so I promise it will only be for today," Fran said in a rush. Natalie remembered the horrible car crash she had seen on her way to Fran's the day before. Could it have been...?

"Sure. I can do that," she replied, and, saying goodbye to her friends, got in her car and started to drive.

**XXX**

**XXX**

Natalie arrived five minutes early, so she hurried down the basement steps and sat in the same chair as she had yesterday. It was something familiar and comfortable, things that always seemed to lesson her anxiety. She scanned the room and saw that the other actors were talking and laughing like old friends. She also noticed that she was the only one sitting down. Natalie thought of trying to go talk to them, but quickly dismissed the idea.

'It's not like I'm ever going to see these guys again, except maybe in the movie theater back home. I don't have to be un-shy or something,' she reasoned with herself. Natalie stuffed her hands between her knees and sank back into the chair. She began studying the walls instead of the actors.

They were painted a sunny golden, which reminded her of home. It was the exact shade of the shore at Lake Michigan during a fall afternoon. Natalie sighed. She missed home.

A picture hung on the wall caught her attention. It was of Peter and Fran with their children, Billy and Katie, in front of a scene Natalie vaguely recognized. But before she could stand up to get a better look, the boy who looked about her age sat down next to her.

"Hi, I'm Elijah, in case you don't remember," he started. Natalie smiled weakly. _He's talking to me. What do I do now? _

"And I'm –," she started, but Elijah cut her off.

"Natasha, right?"

"Um, Natalie…" she said, trailing off. Elijah looked embarrassed and tried to cover up by saying something else, but stopped when Peter entered the room. He called them to order and the other actors began to take their seats. Fran began going around, handing the actors their new scripts.

Elijah gave Natalie a quick smile before grabbing the booklet Fran tossed him. Natalie's was next; she barely caught it be her fingertips. Holding it up so that she could read it, she saw "_The Fellowship of the Ring: Gilraen's Memorial through The Road Goes Ever On_" written on the cover.

Natalie was saved from having to make conversation by Hugo Weyland, Elrond, saying the first lines of the scene. "Anirne hene beriad i chên în. Ned Imladris nauthant e le beriathar aen."

Natalie briefly wondered why both the read-through yesterday and today started with a line in a foreign language, one that she had never heard the likes of before. But the brief scene between Elrond and Aragorn ended and Natalie's attention was brought back to the script when Elijah jumped into the next scene. "Mordor, Gandalf, is it right or left?"

To Natalie, the read-through ran very similarly to her first one yesterday. Actors said their lines in order… and that was about it. She supposed that in later readings Peter would inject his comments about the acting, but she quickly dismissed her pondering, as future readings were of no importance to her. It wasn't like she would ever see another script in her life, much less attend another read-through.

As they made their way through the booklet, Natalie was sucked into the story again. Something about being here, reading the script… it all felt so natural. She was so absorbed in the story that she just barely spoke her line in time when it came up. "What is that?" Natalie spat out and sucked in her breath. Surreptitiously, she looked at the other actors; they carried on as if they didn't notice the pause before her line.

"It's moving fast… against the wind."

"Crebain from Dunland!"

Natalie supposed it didn't matter anyways; how long was this stand-in for Lily going to last?

**XXX**

**XXX**

Time flew by during the read-through. Before she knew it, Natalie could see the rays of the sinking sun slanting through the windows. She yawned, thinking of the long plane ride that awaited her in two days. As fun as it was to spend the second semester of her sophomore year in New Zealand, her five months were up and it was time to head back home for a three-month summer break and then her junior year back at the University of Wisconsin.

"Announcement, everyone!" Peter called from the base of the stairs. "Next read-through won't be held in the basement – Weta just finished moving into the new building yesterday, so we'll be over there. There's a lot more room and you all should get to know the building; it's right across the street from where you'll live during the shoot. So see you all in room 102B in two days!"

Natalie gathered up her purse and started to dig around for her car keys when Fran and Peter approached her. _Oh, here it comes. They're letting me know that I'm not invited to the read-through tomorrow. There's no way they could want me to keep reading for Lily, after they saw how terrible an actress I am._

"So, Natalie…" Peter trailed off. Natalie felt her stomach sink. She hadn't realized how much she loved reading for Lily until it was all being taken from her.

Fran continued, "We know you're going home in a few days, so we wanted to say goodbye." Natalie nodded, her throat constricting. "And we wanted to thank you for helping us out these past two days. It was really great of you."

"Yeah, of course. I hope the shoot goes alright," Natalie said, unable to come up with anything else. She nodded goodbye and slipped up the stairs, unsure of why she felt like crying.

**XXX**

**XXX**

Natalie's life was so hectic in the next few days that she didn't have time to be sad about the loss of Lily. Although she knew that she hadn't really _lost _the part, seeing that it was never actually hers, the short time of reading for Lily had bonded her to the character, and she couldn't help but feel some attachment to it.

But Natalie was busy; she was finishing up finals, saying goodbye to all the friends she had made on this side of the world, and packing up the apartment with her roommates.

Sooner than she realized, Natalie was stepping off of the last plane of her three-leg journey back home and running to greet her family.

"NAT! NAT! NAT! NAT!" Natalie laughed as her youngest brother, Noah, ran up to her, hugging her legs. She scooped him up and tried to swing him around, but had to set him back on the ground.

"Noah! You grew too much while I was gone!" Her five-year-old brother grinned up at her and Natalie turned to hug her mom.

"Oh, honey, I'm so glad you made it home safe," Natalie's mom, Elizabeth Summers, said, but Natalie could see that her mom wasn't focused on her at all. _Probably thinking about Nick_, she thought, but quickly squashed her angry thoughts down. She was home, and happy to see her family.

"Yup! I'm home! I have so many stories to tell you guys!" Natalie hugged one of her other brothers, Nathan, who was only a year and a half younger than her, and then looked around. "Where's Nick and Dad?"

"Nick was having a bad day..." Elizabeth said. "We thought it best to have him stay at home, and we should hurry. You know how I don't like to leave him home alone too long." Natalie nodded. Nicholas, older than Natalie by two years, was a highly functioning autistic.

"And Dad was really busy at work, but he said he'll try to be home early for dinner so he can see you tonight," Nathan offered up, shrugging at Natalie.

"Doesn't sound like much has changed," Natalie whispered to her brother as they started walking towards the exits. Nathan pulled her in for a side hug, and Natalie laughed and hugged him back. She was so happy to be home with her brothers that she almost forgot that she had been moping about the part of Lily.

**XXX**

**XXX**

Natalie sank into her favorite comfy chair in the family room, a glass of lemonade in her hands. She had been home for a week now, and she never wanted to leave. She reached over to the side table and picked up the book she was reading, and started to flip to where she had left off.

Nathan walked into the room, loudly shuffling a deck of cards. "Wanna play some Gin Rummy?" he asked her, smiling.

Natalie laughed. She and Nathan had a long-standing tradition of nights of Gin Rummy tournaments. "Of course! You know I can never turn down a good card game!" She set the book back down on the table and joined her brother on the floor as he tossed her ten cards. She organized them in her hands, looking for any patterns.

The sound of screaming from the hallway made Natalie look up. Noah came hurtling in the room; a sheet trailed behind him. "Like my cape?" he asked, plopping down in Natalie's lap.

"You make a great super hero!" she replied, setting her chin on top of her brother's head. She was deciding which card to throw away when her cell phone rang.

Natalie looked at the screen – it was an unfamiliar number. "Hello?" she said.

"Hi, Natalie. This is Fran Wales again... Are you still in New Zealand?"

Natalie started at hearing the woman's voice. She hadn't expected to hear it ever again. "Um, no. I'm not. I came back to Wisconsin a week ago," she replied.

"Well, Peter and I have an offer for you. I know, it's quite strange, but I hope you'll hear us out."

"Okay, just a minute." Natalie held the phone into her chest and pushed Noah out of her lap. "I have to take this call – sorry, guys – I'll be back in a minute." She stood up and walked down the hallway to her bedroom. Flopping onto her yellow and white bed, Natalie held the phone back up to her ear. "Hi, Fran. Sorry about that."

"No problem. So over the past week Peter and I have been looking at hundreds of audition tapes for the part of Lily, and nobody seems to work." Natalie felt a spark of hope in her chest. What could this possibly mean? "We keep comparing them to you. We just keep saying to ourselves – we need Natalie. After hearing you read for us, I guess you just stuck in our heads. Nobody seems right for Lily – except you."

"What?" Natalie couldn't speak, she couldn't think. After a few minutes, she said, "Is this a joke? I mean... I know I can't act. I mean, are you serious?"

"I am! There's something about you, Natalie – natural talent, some may say. Peter and I have discussed this at length, and we really can't find a better Lily. Yes, you could use some acting lessons and there is a lot of work ahead of you if you accept, but that initial spark – you've got it. You've really captured Lily's wonderment and naiveté. I'm not saying that you've got everything perfect. Like I said, you will have to work harder than everyone else, but I'd hate to see potential as big as yours slip away."

Natalie's head reeled. No one had _ever _told her that there was some great potential building up inside of her. And here was one of the biggest film makers telling her – _her _– that she could be a star. Her, shy little Natalie! It was too big to handle.

"Um... I don't know what to say!"

"Well, take a few hours to think it over – a day if you need to. I know it's a big decision, and there's a lot of responsibility involved. Just let me know as soon as you can," Fran said.

"Alright. I'll call you back soon," Natalie said, and hung up. Turning her head so that her face was pressed into her pillow, Natalie let out an excited scream. She'd been asked to be Lily!

Immediately, Natalie bit her lip and flipped onto her back, staring up at her ceiling. Yes, of course it was exciting to be asked to be part of a movie – _any _movie, but especially one as large as this one was – but Natalie forced herself to think about why playing Lily might not be the best thing right now.

Her thoughts were so muddled – on one hand, she knew that she was no actress, and that this wasn't something she was supposed to do. She would have to stay far away from her family for at least another year or two, and she supposed that she would have to drop out of college. She couldn't see how her parents would let her do that – they were firm believers in working hard to make a living, and wouldn't approve of her throwing away her education just to be in a movie.

Natalie also thought back to how she felt when she left New Zealand. While there were so many things about the country to love – the scenery, for one thing – she had missed her family and her home, and had been more than ready to leave as soon as the semester was over.

But at the same time, Natalie had an inexplicable pull towards _The Lord of the Rings_. She absolutely loved the story, and in all three read-throughs, she found herself being pulled more and more into the character of Lily. Something inside her cried out at the thought of parting with the character she had come to understand so well. And then there were those comments that Peter and Fran had made – that she had natural talent? Somehow, she couldn't seem to let go of that. No one had ever told her that she had potential in something – sure, she got along okay in all her classes, but she had never been brilliant at anything, never played any sports or musical instruments or had any other sort of talent. To think that someone believed in her – even if it was just a tiny bit – Natalie couldn't shake off that feeling.

She was being pulled in both directions, but she couldn't lie to herself – the part of her that wanted to stay in New Zealand, to film this movie, was getting bigger and bigger by the moment.

As much as Natalie loved her home and her family, she had to be honest with herself. There was no way she could pass up this opportunity. She loved the character of Lily, connected with her on such a level she never thought possible. Reading the script over had only solidified that knowledge. If she didn't say yes – if she didn't play Lily – she knew she would regret that for the rest of her life.


	3. The Talk

Chapter Three:

After leaving her bedroom, Natalie practically ran to the kitchen, anxious to talk to her mom about the possibility of taking on the role of Lily.

"Mom? Do you think I could talk to you about something? It's kind of important," Natalie said, leaning against the island. Natalie's mom, Elizabeth, shot a harried look at her daughter before opening the oven.

"Oh, honey, it's just not a good time. Nick's locked himself in his room again and Nate's entire JV basketball team is coming over for team dinner in two hours. I just – I don't have time for anything else right now." Elizabeth let the oven door slam closed, ending the conversation.

Natalie felt tears prickling at the corners of her eyes, but she tried to hold them back. Crying had never gotten her anywhere. Not when Natalie's mom had committees to head and ladies of the neighborhood to talk and lunch with, not to mention Nick – taking care of him was a full-time job.

"Well, okay, maybe tomorrow, then," she said, trying to make an effort, but her mother didn't even answer.

Turning on her heel, Natalie slunk out of the kitchen and took her place on the floor, across from Nathan. If he noticed that she was upset during the rest of their card game, he didn't say anything.

**XXX**

**XXX**

Later that night, after the basketball team had cleared the house, Natalie approached her father's study. Her father, Andrew, was a short, balding man, but he always seemed slightly imposing to Natalie.

"Hey, Dad, can we talk?"

"Sure. I have a few minutes," he responded, eyes still on the stacks of paper littering his desk.

Natalie sat down in one of the chairs in front of the desk. As he looked up, she felt like one of his clients from his big, fancy law firm, not his daughter.

"So, um, Dad... something kind of exciting happened to me while I was in New Zealand," she started to say, but her father cut her off.

"Get yourself a new boyfriend or something? Wait. Don't tell me you're pregnant." Andrew looked at his daughter over his rectangular glasses.

"Oh my god, NO! Why would you even think that?" Trying to settle down, Natalie thought back to how she had wanted to present the topic and rushed on. "You've heard of the _Lord of the Rings_, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, while I was in New Zealand, I got a babysitting job... the couple I was babysitting for, they're making a movie version of the books, and while I was there they were holding a read-through with some actors." There, she had started.

"Did you come bother me while I was working to talk namby-pamby about some actors you got to meet?" Natalie shrunk into her chair. This wasn't going as well as she had hoped.

"Um, no... actually, I, um, got offered a part in the movie?"

Her father just looked at her. "Say something, Dad?" Natalie ventured hesitantly.

"Go get your mother, please," he said, finally, scrubbing a hand through his thinning hair. "I don't know what to say to you... and I think this is something we need to talk about all together."

Natalie jumped up and raced into the family room, where her mom was knitting an indistinguishable, purple object. "Can you come into Dad's study? We have something we want to talk to you about," she said.

Elizabeth glanced over at the adjacent couch, where Noah looked like a little zombie in front of the television. "I was just about to put Noah to bed," she sighed.

"I'll put him to bed," Natalie offered, sitting down next to her brother, "while you and Dad talk."

"Alright." Natalie's mom sighed again as she set down the lump of yarn.

"I'll be in after I tuck him in," Natalie said at the retreating form of her mother. "Come on, Noah, time for bed..." she poked her brother until he giggled and poked her back. "Race you to your room!"

**XXX**

**XXX**

Natalie hesitantly poked her head into the doorway of her father's study. "Come on in, Nat," she heard him say, and she tiptoed inside the room. She sucked in a deep breath, willing herself not to mess anything up. This was her one chance to convince her parents to let her go. She steeled herself for the argument she knew would ensue and sat down.

"So your father tells me that you've been offered a part in a movie?" Elizabeth asked her daughter.

"Yeah, I have," Natalie responded. "Peter Johnson, who I was babysitting for, is filming _The Lord of the Rings_. I was over to babysit his children while he and a few actors did a read-through in the basement, and then the actress supposed to play Lily never showed up, so I ended up reading for her, and then..." Natalie paused, realizing that she was rambling and talking very quickly. "Sorry. Um, so anyways, that actress ended up getting in a car accident and won't be able to do the shoot. So... this afternoon, they called me and asked if I would do it." She paused, giving her parents time to speak.

"I don't even know where to start! Where are they filming?" Elizabeth asked.

"Um... in New Zealand?" Natalie offered the answer up.

"So we would have to send you back there? For how long?" Natalie glanced at her dad, who didn't look like he was even paying attention to the conversation.

"I think the shoot is going to take about a year," Natalie responded. "But I haven't really received all the information yet. I said I had to talk to you guys first."

Andrew looked up from his papers, saying, "Well, I don't think you should do it. We've put a lot of money into your education so far, and I don't think you should stop when you're halfway towards getting your degree. And then I thought we said you'd go to law school and work at my firm. Acting in this movie isn't going to get you that lawyer job you've always wanted."

After years of hearing this life plotted out for her, Natalie couldn't take it anymore. She stood up, steeling herself for what she was going to do next. "That's always been your dream, Dad! _You're _the one who wanted me to go to law school and work for you. That's _your _dream, not mine!" Natalie seethed, but seeing that her parents were taken aback from her outburst, she calmed down. A little bit.

"I've never really known what I wanted to do with my life," she continued. "Until now. Reading for Lily – I just... I can't even explain it. It felt so _right_. Like I belonged somewhere. And I've never felt that before with anything."

"What are you talking about? You were so popular in high school," Elizabeth interjected.

"God, Mom. I hardly had any friends in high school! When are you _ever _going to realize that you know _nothing _about me?" Natalie had never yelled at her parents like this before, and she felt strangely exhilarated. Free.

"Honey..." Elizabeth started, and Natalie saw hurt flash through her eyes.

Cutting her off, Natalie said, "I just... I really want to do this movie. I _really _do. It's a chance of a _lifetime_! I'm never going to get another opportunity like this." Natalie walked over to her dad, and leaned over the desk. "Dad, you've always said that I should reach for my dreams, and never let anything get in my way or hold me back. And although my dream may not be the dream you wanted me to have, it's still my dream. This is my dream, Dad," she pleaded.

Andrew studied his young daughter and nodded slowly. "Yes, I think I understand," he said, and glanced over at his wife. "We're going to let her go. She can do it."

With those words, Natalie walked around to the back of the desk – an area that she had never dared to enter before – and gave her dad a hug. "Thank you," she whispered. "_Thank you."_

**XXX**

**XXX**

Natalie's next few days were a flurry of phone calls. There were calls from agents, from magazines, big film companies, and, of course, Fran and Peter. It seemed as if the entire world wanted to talk to her about the movie.

But before she knew it, Natalie was facing a flurry of goodbyes.

The goodbyes to her parents were pretty easy. Natalie hadn't talked much to her mom over the past few days, except to inform her of flight details and other last-minute changes. And her dad had been working almost non-stop. Not that either of those things was uncommon for the Summers' household.

Nathan and Noah were harder to say goodbye to. She hugged each brother tightly, and promised to send home any props – especially any practice swords or armor – she could manage to steal away. "I'm gonna miss you guys so much!" she exclaimed as they said goodbye.

Nick had hardly come out of his room in the short two weeks Natalie had been home, but he stood in the family room awkwardly as Natalie prepared to leave.

"Bye," he mumbled, looking at the floor.

"Bye, Nick," Natalie replied, and smiled at her brother. "Don't worry – I'll call lots!"

"Wellington, New Zealand is exactly thirteen hours ahead of Milwaukee, Wisconsin," Nick said, giving her an awkward, one-armed hug.

"Well, then, I'll have to plan my calls pretty carefully then, huh?" she looked around the room at her family. "Goodbye, goodbye!"

**XXX**

**XXX**

A/N: To everyone who has helped me make this story become a reality: I cannot thank you enough. It is because of your dedication that my words make it to this site. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you. (Especially Jacky, because I wouldn't be writing if it wasn't for you)


	4. Moving In

Chapter Four: Moving In

Natalie sat down on the empty bed and surveyed the room around her. It was rather like a dorm room – square and sparsely furnished – but it was much nicer than any dorm room she had ever been in. For one thing, it was all hers. Just one bed, one closet, and one desk. That was one thing Natalie was grateful for – at least she would have a little bit of space to herself.

Amidst the flurry of phone calls in the past few weeks, Natalie had found out that the housing the actors were being provided with was not apartment buildings like she had thought, but, rather, a dorm-like... thing. The building was directly across the street from the main Weta building, and was meant to house all the main actors during principal photography.

The building was fairly simple – three large living areas (a lounge room, a kitchenette/dining room, and a smaller sitting room) and a long hallway of bedrooms that all looked exactly like the one Natalie was sitting in. It was brand new, and although not luxurious or upscale in any way, the rooms were quite nice. Much better than the dorm rooms she was used to back home.

Natalie was jerked out of her thinking by the three hobbit boys – Elijah, Dom, and Billy – chatting loudly as they carried boxes down the hall.

"Hey, Natalie! Like the new digs?" Billy poked his head in Natalie's open door. "Orlando brought his Nintendo and is setting it up – I bet I can whip you on Mario Kart!"

Natalie forced herself to grin. "Sure – I'll be there as soon as I finish unpacking," she replied. All the actors had been welcoming to the newcomer, but the other hobbit actors especially, which she was grateful for. None of the other actresses had arrived in New Zealand yet, and although they were being friendly, Natalie was finding it hard to connect with this group of guys.

This brought Natalie back to her thoughts on the apartment. The rooms were nice, yes, but that didn't hide the fact that she was going to be living with men. A lot of men.

Slapping her hand to her forehead, Natalie groaned. Why, of all people, did _she_ have to spend the next year living with a bunch of _boys_? Back at home, it was hard enough, with her three brothers. And she would put good money down on saying that her brothers lived in some of the most pigsty-like rooms out there. Natalie, on the other hand, always had kept her room in perfect order.

She sighed. Boys. Messy boys. Why on earth did she have to live with all the men in the cast? Why couldn't they just live in apartments like she was used to? Why? Peter was so strange sometimes. If they did have to live in the dorm-like building, at least Natalie and the other girls should have their own.

Then Natalie remembered something that Peter had told her – that Cate, or Galadriel, was only going to be in New Zealand for two weeks. Liv (Arwen) and Miranda (Éowyn) were going to be here longer, but there were still going to be long periods of time where Natalie was the only main actress on set.

Natalie sat down on the floor, ignoring all the unpacking she had to finish. She missed her family, her brothers especially. Thinking about her family caused a wave of homesickness to sweep over like an enormous tidal wave. It made her feel lost, like she had been abandoned.

Natalie rested against an un-opened box, silently trying not to cry. Why was she here? What had caused her to do this? A tear slid down her cheek, and soon she gave herself over to her tears. She didn't want to be shooting a movie for the next year-and-a-half – she wanted to be home. She wanted to go to the drive-in movie theater with her girlfriends; wanted to be home for Christmas, her birthday, her brothers' birthdays. Natalie yearned to bake bread with her Memaw, wished she could play endless games of Gin Rummy with Nathan, no matter how many times he beat her.

Natalie laughed through her tears. She even missed her mom yelling at her! She'd give anything to be mopping the wood floor when she had planned on going to the mall. Anything to get away from these _new _boys; she wanted to be home with _her _boys.

Last December, Natalie had been thrilled to travel across the globe, to visit a new country. But she had thought it was only for six months, one semester. Plus, she had gotten to fly home over spring break. Now she wouldn't be able to see her family much at all, because of filming. Maybe she would have a few days, here and there, but Natalie doubted she'd even get that much of a break. Sobbing some more, Natalie curled her head into her knees, wishing she had made a different decision.

**XXX**

**XXX**

Once she decided it was time to stop crying, Natalie wiped her face and sat up. She really needed to start unpacking. She sighed, looking at all the boxes and her suitcase; there seemed to be too much to do. Eventually, she decided to make her bed, so at least she knew she had a place to sleep at night. Natalie tugged at the white sheet. She shook it over her new bed and watched it settle smoothly onto the mattress.

Natalie started to hum, something she had always done to fill up the empty silence that seemed to penetrate the room more when she was doing chores. Then she started singing the words, but softly, afraid someone might hear her, unlikely as that was over the sounds of the Mario Kart tournament. Though she had always loved singing, Natalie never thought she had too good of a voice.

"_Say you love me every waking moment_

_Turn my head with talk of summertime…_

_Say you need me with you now and always…_

_Promise me that all you say is true – _

_That's all I ask of you…"_

Natalie froze as another voice picked up the next verse from the doorway.

"_Let me be your shelter_

_Let me be your light_

_You're safe: No one will find you_

_Your fears are far behind you…"_

Natalie didn't dare turn around, afraid to know who the singer was. Instead, she continued making her bed. Even though she didn't want to, her mouth opened and she began to sing, but louder this time.

"_All I want is freedom_

_A world with no more night…_

_And you, always beside me,_

_To hold me and hide me…"_

The man sang again.

"_Then say you'll share with me _

_One love, one lifetime…_

_Let me lead you from your solitude…_

_Say you need me with you here, beside you…_

_Anywhere you go. Let me go too – _

_Christine, that's all I ask of you…"_

Natalie dropped the pillow she had been fluffing and spun around. Mesmerized by his voice, she stared at the hideous carpet on the floor, just listening to the song, fearful at what might happen if she saw her mysterious person who was serenading her.

Playing along, Natalie kept singing.

"_Say you'll share with me_

_One love, one lifetime…_

_Say the word and I will follow you…"_

Finally, she dragged her eyes up to his face and was locked in his gaze. A pair of endlessly blue eyes twinkled at her as she gaped at him. It was Elijah.

When she finally found her voice, the two sang the next verse together.

"_Share each day with me,_

_Each night, each morning…"_

Soloing, Natalie continued, her usually steady voice shaky.

"_Say you love me…"_

He answered, lightly stepping around boxes to approach her.

"_You know I do…"_

Together, Natalie and Elijah sang.

"_Love me, _

_That's all I ask of you…"_

Their faces were inches apart now.

Natalie sucked in her breath, full-well knowing what transpired in the play the song was from.

She turned on her heel, her bare foot twisting into the carpet. No way was she going to kiss him. She hardly knew the guy! Plus, the nerve! Why did he think he could kiss her now, when they had only briefly met?

Natalie pulled at her bedding again, remembering the last time she was with a guy. No. She didn't want to think of that now. She couldn't.

Then, his voice started up again. Drawn by the music, Natalie's soprano mixed with his tenor, sending her voice higher and higher.

"_Anywhere you go, let me go, too… _

_Love me,_

_That's all I ask of you…"_

Natalie stared at Elijah, lost for words.

He just looked back at her, smiling.

"How'd you know that?" Natalie asked in a whisper.

"My sister, Hannah, was Christine when our school musical was _The Phantom of the Opera_. I would sing Raoul's part to help her memorize hers," he replied, seemingly unfazed at what had occurred.

Natalie felt her ears and cheeks turn red, still flustered from the almost-kiss. What was she supposed to say now?

"Why weren't you in the play?" she asked, at a loss for anything else to say.

"I was, but only as a lowly chorus boy – which did nothing for the acting practice I was hoping for," Elijah said as he laughed.

Natalie, still mortified from what had taken place earlier, merely nodded along, unable to make decent conversation.

"Anyways, since you missed the Mario Kart tournament – Billy won, by the way – I was sent to escort you to where we'll be having dinner tonight." Elijah offered Natalie his arm.

She followed him, closing the door of her room on the way out. She paused, noticing a gold plaque in the center of her door that read "_Natalie Summers_" in script. "Do we all have those?" Natalie asked her escort.

"Yeah, I think we must! I didn't notice it before," Elijah responded. "Too bad they're not giant gold stars – you could get your first taste of Hollywood."

"Oh, I'm not going to be a Hollywood actress," Natalie laughed. "I don't even know why I'm doing this movie... I doubt I'll ever do another one."

"Well, this movie alone will make you a star," he said. "It's going to be pretty epic, from what Pete has told me."

"No way!" Natalie started to argue, but they had reached the kitchen area.

"The lady has arrived!" Dom announced to the small crew gathered around a long dining table. Natalie blushed at the comment.

Quickly, though, Natalie felt her anxiety reside. The group of men around her had reverted back to acting like teenage boys – their antics reminded her of her brothers. Soon she was laughing at their jokes and settling into the rhythm of their conversation. _Maybe this won't be as terrible as I thought it would be_, she thought to herself, as Elijah caught her eye and gave her a wide smile.

**XXX**

**XXX**

Thanks so much for reading! And a HUGE thank you to the people who've helped me through this entire process... you mean the world to me!**  
**


	5. Begin PreProduction

Chapter Five:

At the sound of blinds opening with a great deal of force, a ray of sunlight hit Natalie's face, forcing her into waking. Groaning, she rolled over and attempted to bury her head underneath her pillow.

"Come on! Up and at 'em! Isn't that what you Americans say?" asked Miranda in her lilting Australian accent as she pulled Natalie's pillow away.

"What time is it?" Natalie muttered, sensing that the sun had not been in the sky for very long yet.

"Er…six twenty-two to be exact. Come on!" She repeated, tugging at Natalie's shoulder. "I don't know where the bathrooms are, and I'm dying for a shower!"

Swinging her legs over the side of her bed, Natalie peered up at her new friend's face.

"Omigod! You're here! I'm saved!" she shrieked finally realizing who she was talking to. Hugging Miranda, Natalie explained further when she saw how confused her friend was. "I thought I would be stuck with the guys _forever_! And the bathrooms are right at the end of the hall. Ours is on the left."

"Of course I'm here… I have to learn to swordfight and ride a horse! My flight got in really late last night," Miranda said, suddenly shifting into a warrior-like pose. "Today I think we're taking a helicopter ride over to some stables… at least, I am. It's a ways away, so we have to leave extra early!"

"Lily never rides a horse..." Natalie groaned and stretched. "Oh, where did I put that schedule?" She got out of bed and shuffled the alarming amount of paperwork on her desk. Upon moving into the room, Natalie had wondered at the presence of the desk – this wasn't school, it wasn't like she had papers to write – but now she realized the necessity of a table space to keep the hundred or so packets she had been handed. And it was only three days into her time in New Zealand.

Finding the schedule for the week, Natalie scanned the day's events. "I have dialect lessons until lunch, and then the other hobbits and I have a character meeting with Peter at two," she said. "So no helicopter ride for me today."

"Ach. Well, I have to get going, we leave in half an hour. See you at dinner!" Miranda left the room, and Natalie sunk into her desk chair, yawning. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, Natalie dug around in her closet for something to wear. After finding something acceptable, she grabbed her bag and headed towards the main Weta building, where her first real day of preproduction would begin.

**XXX**

**XXX**

An hour later, Natalie was yawning and stretching her arms up over her head while squirming in her chair. She seemed to have gotten the most uncomfortable chair in the room. Glancing at the clock, Natalie yawned again. It was only 7:30, and she was stuck in this room until noon.

Natalie had known that she would have to learn to speak in the Middle Earth dialect (which seemed to be fairly English-sounding to her), but she had no idea how anybody was going to go about teaching her.

So far, the speech-language pathologist had just asked the four hobbit actors questions about where they grew up and where their parents had grown up, all the while taking frantic notes. Now, she passed out a paper to each actor. "If you could all read this, please, just normally? I need to see how you form your speech naturally before I can target what areas we need to practice. Dom, when you're ready."

As Dom read a news article recapping a recent rugby game, Natalie's mind started to drift off. She had been in New Zealand for three days, but this was her first real activity involving pre-production So far there had been a lot of papers to sign, a lot of phone calls from people who said they were agents or reporters or even personal assistants... Natalie was beginning to be so overwhelmed that she hardly had time to think about missing her family and her home anymore. She didn't even know what an agent really did! And on top of all of that, Natalie had started to read the _Lord of the Rings_ books, trying to get a glimpse into who Lily was.

"Natalie? It's your turn." Hearing her name jerked Natalie back to the present.

"Um, okay..." Natalie shuffled her papers around, accidentally dropping her news article. "Uh, sorry..." she could feel her face turning bright red as she pawed around on the ground for the piece of paper. The speech-language pathologist shot Natalie an annoyed look.

"How about we move onto Elijah while Natalie gets ready?" she asked, making Natalie go even more red. If that was even possible.

"No, it's fine. I got it now," Natalie responded, clutching her news article. Taking a deep breath she began. "As the Cricket World Cup draws to a close, the whole country takes a collective gasp as we await the first semifinal event." Natalie tried to aim for as close to the Middle Earth dialect as she could, channeling an older English lady who lived down the street from her house.

"No, no, no – what are you doing? You didn't sound like that before!" If the speech-language pathologist (Natalie was awful at remembering names) was annoyed before, now she was severely irked. "I told you to read in your normal voice. Not be an American trying to imitate a Brit."

"I'm sorry! I thought-" Natalie started, but she was cut off.

"They told me that this was your first movie, but where did they find you? Did they just pick you off the streets? You can't even follow simple instructions!" As the woman berated her, Natalie moved as far back into the uncomfortable chair as she could, wishing she could sink right through the floor.

Then she felt a hand on her arm, and looked up to see Elijah, looking down at her with sympathy, then turned to the speech-language pathologist. "Please – this is Nat's first time doing anything for a movie –" Natalie wondered what he would have said if he hadn't been cut off. That she should be given special treatment? That she wasn't cut out for this job?

The woman sighed and rolled her eyes. "It's fine – just start over. In your natural voice."

"I'm really sorry... I haven't really adjusted to the time change yet and I'm having trouble staying awake." Natalie said, and then started over. "As the Cricket World Cup draws to a close, the whole country takes a collective gasp as we await the first semifinal event..." _I am going to be just fine at this job, Elijah, _she thought. _Just watch me. _

**XXX**

**XXX**

After a hurried lunch, Natalie and the other hobbit actors were sitting in Peter Johnson's office, ready for their character meeting. Natalie had no idea what to expect from this meeting, so she couldn't occupy her thoughts with preparing for it. Instead, she looked around the room. Pete's office was like no other office she had seen. Instead of a desk, there were several large recliner chairs forming a circle around the room. The room made her think of a den, not an office.

Peter entered the room, breaking Natalie out of her reverie. "So today my plan is to go over with each of you my impressions on how each of your characters acts," he said, sitting down next to Dom. "We'll also discuss the relationships between the four hobbits." Peter leaned to the side of his chair and pulled up four books. "Here," he said, handing one to each hobbit actor. "I know we'll be asking a lot of you guys over the next few weeks, but I'd love it if you could at least skim these." Natalie flipped the book she held over in her hand, realizing that it was the original Lord of the Rings trilogy. "Mark these up. Make any notes you think are relevant to your character. We'll be having character meetings throughout preproduction. Although I have a pretty clear vision of what I hope to film, I am completely open to any perceptions any of you may have. Always feel free to talk to me about any concerns you have."

"So—" Billy started, but was interrupted by the door flying open, banging against the wall. Natalie looked up in shock as a young, blonde woman made her way through the door on crutches.

"Sorry I'm late, Pete," she breezed, plopping down next to Elijah. "I'm still not used to these things," she said, holding out her crutches as if expecting somebody to take them from her. When nobody did, she let them fall to the ground at her feet. As if noticing Natalie for the first time, she said, "And who are you? I thought Lily was the only female hobbit in the story, Pete." The woman glared at Natalie, who shrunk back in her chair. This day was only getting worse.

"Um, Kelly? I spoke to your agent several weeks ago and we agreed that your injuries," Pete gestured at the white cast that wound up the woman's leg and disappeared beneath her skirt. "would prevent you from fullfilling your contract with Weta. We hired somebody else – Natalie – after your accident."

"Oh, that silly old thing? She never knew what she was talking about. I fired her. Now, get this no-namer out of here." Turning to Natalie, she continued, "And, honey, don't forget to give me the scripts they gave you before you leave. They're mine, not yours." Sitting back into the chair with a sneer, the woman – Kelly – looked at Peter, the look on her face saying that she fully expected her commands to be obeyed.

Peter, looking almost as aghast as Natalie felt, sighed. "Natalie, Elijah, Dom, and Billy – I'm sorry, but we're going to have to reschedule this meeting. I've got to work out these issues with Kelly…" The four hobbit actors stood up, and Natalie, almost hiding behind Dom, edged her way out of the room.

As soon as they were in the hallway, the three guys turned to her. "God, what a bitch!" Dom said. "I'm so glad we got to work with you instead of her," he continued, grabbing Natalie in a side hug.

"Not for long, it seems like," Natalie replied, her stomach sinking. She was confused at what had just happened, but also terrified at what it meant. "She's going to take the part back! You heard her!"

Billy looked wary. "Well, I think that Pete's smart enough that he would have covered all his bases before hiring you in her place. Don't worry about it! Come on, we've got a bunch of free time now, and I'm feeling like a Mario Kart rematch!" The three boys laughed and started making their way back to the living space. Natalie followed behind them, but couldn't take their advice and forget about Kelly. Natalie knew who she was – she figured everybody in America did, she was such a big-name star – and, thinking back to her stumbling read-throughs and how she had messed up that very morning in dialect lessons, knew who the better actress was.

As the group rounded the corner to their common room, Natalie felt her throat close up and tears threaten to fall out. Making her excuses to the boys, she walked down to her room, shut the door, and lay down on her bed. Sure, she missed home. But she knew she had made the right choice in coming back to New Zealand. And now, because of one stuck-up movie star, the dream she had just realized she had was about to be taken away from her.

**XXX**

**XXX**

A few hours later, Natalie heard a knock on the door, breaking her focus from _The Fellowship of the Ring. _She still found the names confusing, but at least she was understanding the plot and starting to get sucked into the story.

"Come in!" she yelled, and Elijah poked his head in. "Stuart just came in to remind us about the campout tonight, and he mentioned that he saw Kelly Townsend storming out of the building earlier, yelling about how the movie was going to be a disaster without her." Elijah grinned at Natalie, opening the door all the way. "We told you that you had nothing to worry about! Oh, and Miranda wants to know if you'll go to the store with her to pick up some food for tonight."

"Tell her I'll be right out. I just have to put my shoes on," Natalie replied, smiling back at Elijah. She still had the role! Natalie kept smiling to herself, not really aware until that moment how much she felt a claim on the role. She didn't only want to be Lily, she already felt like she _was. _And now nobody could take that from her.

As she left her room, Natalie closed her door and ran her hand along the gold plaque reading her name. She was really going to be a movie star.

**XXX**

**XXX**

Natalie strolled over to the tables of food set up and helped herself to the barbecue buffet spread out in front of them. To celebrate the start of pre-production, the actors were throwing a barbecue and campout behind the Weta building. Natalie had grabbed a paper plate and loaded it with a hamburger that Stuart had just flipped off the grill, along with some watermelon and a chocolate-chunk brownie. She had almost filled her plate when someone finally realized she was there.

"Natalie?" Billy asked, holding a corn cob halfway to his mouth. "Is that really you? But you're in a skirt! And… your hair… it's… different."

Blushing, Natalie nodded, trying not to draw attention to herself, but Billy's question had alerted other people to her presence.

"It is!" Elijah laughed. "She's a girl after all!"

Natalie tugged at her jean mini-skirt again; more than ever aware of how her black V-neck ribbed t-shirt made her chest look bigger and that it was the first time she had worn a skirt in front of these guys. Never mind the fact that they had always seen her hair up in a messy ponytail or bun; now it was just simply down, the sleek ends brushing along the neckline of her shirt. Or that she was without her old tennis shoes – the strappy black sandals somehow made her rather large feet look dainty and ladylike.

Natalie had always loved clothes, and had accumulated quite a few of them over the years. Even though she knew her outfit wasn't very practical for a campout, she couldn't help wanting to dress up for a change instead of wearing her preproduction uniform of a ratty tshirt and shorts.

"What they mean is that you look stunning," Stuart told Natalie, abandoning his post at the grill to lead her over to Miranda in a fatherly manner. Even if he was too young to be her father – or eighty-year-old Aragorn for that matter – she still admired his mannerisms. Natalie doubted that his performance of the ranger-turned-king would be less than Oscar-worthy, too. It just wasn't in his nature.

"Thanks," Natalie said with a smile, then sank down onto the picnic table bench next to her friend.

Elijah, sitting across form her, grinned, and then promptly took a huge bite out of his watermelon slice. Natalie returned the gesture through her side-swept bangs, thinking that she already had two good friends in the cast. Maybe her awful day was starting to get better.

**XXX**

**XXX**

"Billy! What on Earth are you doing?" Natalie laughed. Elijah, Dom, and the other guys' antics had helped improve her mood tremendously. Now Billy was trying to roast a marshmallow in the blazing bonfire. 'Trying' the key word.

"That's Middle Earth to you, if it's all the same," Dom commented while sticking his own marshmallow into the fire.

From her perch on one of the logs circling the fire pit, Natalie laughed again as Billy pulled his marshmallow out of the fire and began to wave the flaming marshmallow in Orlando's face.

"We used to call those 'meteors' when we were little," Elijah said as he sat down next to Natalie. She scooted over a little to make more room for him before she replied.

"Who's 'we'?"

"Me and my siblings – Hannah and Zach." Natalie had just enough time to nod in response before he leapt up to squash his own marshmallow onto a stick.

"_This_ is how you're _supposed_ to do it," he said, showing Billy and Dom how to hold the marshmallow just above the embers. "I used to go camping all the time with my family," Elijah continued, this time looking directly at Natalie.

Then he retrieved two graham cracker pieces, chocolate, and another marshmallow. Sandwiching the now golden-brown 'mallow, he handed the warm package to Natalie, who ate it gratefully while Elijah cooked another for himself.

**XXX**

**XXX**

As everyone finished up eating their I-lost-count-after-the-fifth s'more, Dom pulled out his acoustic guitar and strummed a chord.

"Who's up for campfire songs?" he yelled out excitedly. Natalie groaned. Things could hardly get any cheesier. Still, she joined in when she knew the lyrics.

"_Oh give me a home_

_Where the buffalo roam"_

Dom started singing the traditional lyrics when suddenly Billy burst out with his own version and overpowered Dom's voice.

"_Where the beer and the cantaloupe play…"_

Laughing, Natalie joined in, along with the rest of the group. This was the version she and her brothers had sung on the road trips to visit their grandparents!

"_Where seldom is heard_

_An encouraging word,_

_And the skies _

_Are cloudy all day…_

_Home! Home on the range…"_

The song fizzled out and everybody sat in silence for a few moments before Dom spoke. "Since we're in made-up-lyrics-to-classic-songs mode, does anyone know this one?"

He strummed a bit on his guitar until he found the right key and tempo, than with an "aha!" he began.

"_This land is my land,_

_It isn't your land._

_I got a shotgun,_

_And you ain't got one._

_I'll blow your head off,_

_If you don't get off._

_This land is private property!"_

Remembering the many times she and her brothers had sung that one as well, Natalie joined in to sing the next verse.

Several songs later, Miranda stood up and stretched. "Well, it's getting late, and we have to get up tomorrow for more training, so I'm going to bed. Anyone else?"

"Just one more song!" Billy pleaded, and then turned to whisper something in Dom's ear. The two had already become close friends, much like their on-screen counterparts, and both possessed the streak of troublemaking often accompanying Merry and Pippin.

Suddenly, both men burst into song.

"_Let's gather 'round the campfire_

_And sing our campfire song._

_Our C-A-M-P-F-I-R-E S-O-N-G song_

_And if you don't' think that we can sing it faster then you're wrong_

_But it'll help if you just sing along…"_

Then they sang the exact verse again, this time a bit faster. They went on like this for quite some time until it became too fast for Billy, who dropped out. Dom's last verse went by faster than the speed of light, the lyrics almost too fast to make out.

After a few laughs at Dom's love for the SpongeBob cartoons, everyone spread out to find their sleeping bags, ready for a night under the stars.

**XXX**

**XXX**

It was two hours since everybody had fallen asleep, but Natalie was still awake. She had given up trying to shut her eyes and fall into a state of calmness – it just wasn't going to work.

Giving up at stargazing, or at least, blankly staring at the stars, Natalie quietly stood up and moved closer to the dying bonfire. Just a few flickers of flame remained, casting an eerie glow over the campsite.

Natalie sat in silence for a few minutes, her chin resting on her propped-up fists. She heard some noise behind her, but figured it was just one of the boys moving in their sleep and dismissed it.

Consequently, Natalie was so surprised when she felt a hand on her shoulder that she jumped.

"It's okay, it's just me," Elijah said softly as he sat next to her once again.

For a few minutes, the pair sat in silence. Then Elijah said, "I started reading the books like Pete asked us to. So far Frodo's just a love-sick guy. He's all 'Lily! Lily! Lily!'" Elijah flung his arms around Natalie and mashed his face into her cheek.

"Ew! Elijah!" Natalie pushed him off of her shoulder and wiped her cheek with the back of her hand. "You are an awful kisser. You slobbered all over me!"

Elijah giggled and then hiccupped. Grinning sheepishly, he said, "I don't know why I just did that… must have had one drink too many."

"Maybe a few too many!" Natalie replied, smiling in spite of herself at Elijah's drunkenness.

Seeming to come to himself a little bit, Elijah straightened up and asked, "Why do you think I'm such a bad kisser, eh? Had lots of boys to compare me to?" He winked.

Natalie started, not expecting that question. "Um, yeah, I guess you could say that."

"Really?" Now it was Elijah's turn to be surprised. "I was just joking, really."

"No, it's, um… pretty stupid, actually," Natalie said, hugging her legs and resting her chin on her knees. "In my hometown, there's not a whole lot to do. So we partied a lot. Or, at least, I did. I quickly realized that as soon as I had one drink in me, I lost all my inhibitions. I no longer had my shyness holding me back."

"And this relates to kissing lots of boys how?" Elijah asked.

"Well, the one side effect of drinking to lose my shyness was that I also lost any inhibitions with boys. So, yeah, my nights usually ended with a hook up," Natalie said.

"I wonder why that was?" Elijah said, looking at her.

"Want to psycho-analyze me?" Natalie replied, laughing. "Okay, let's see. I had a father who was always at work and never home and a mother who was always involved in something more important than her daughter. So why wouldn't I jump at anyone who showed me even a little bit of affection?"

Elijah stared at her. "Wow. I wasn't expecting that at all."

"Well, I've had a few years to think it over and figure it out. Um… so there's the sad story of my teenage years… now you owe me yours." She elbowed Elijah in the ribs.

"I'll tell you all about it," Elijah said, yawning. "But not tonight… I just got really tired all of a sudden."

Natalie caught his yawn and agreed with him. "Alright, but I'm holding you to that," she said as they walked back to their sleeping bags.


	6. Enter Liv

Chapter Six:

"You really need to gain some weight. I mean, you look like an elf! Wonder why they cast you as a hobbit…" a teasing voice broke into Natalie's muddled thoughts. She looked up from absentmindedly staring at the white-flecked floor tile to the woman standing next to her.

"What do you mean?" Natalie asked, eyeing a chair in the corner of the room. She had been standing on a stool in the costume building for over an hour already, and all she wanted right now was to sit down. And after being victim to the woman's measuring tape, Natalie just didn't want to have this conversation. Or any other conversation for that matter. Her back hurt from standing up straight at the woman's command. 'Put those shoulders back!' she'd ordered. 'Nice and tall. You don't want to be slouchy.'

"Well… you must weigh, what? A hundred and five pounds?" the measuring tape woman asked. Natalie nodded, staring pointedly at the chair, hoping to sit down. "Hobbits are supposed to be, well, not like you," the woman continued, eyeing Natalie's skinny, almost-boyish, five-foot-two figure.

"Wait – what do I have to do?" Natalie asked, hopping off the stool and sinking gratefully into the chair. She could now focus on the instruction.

"Gain 25 pounds by the start of filming." Natalie stared at the woman in disbelief.

"You can't possibly… I mean, really… I… I… no! No way!" she sputtered.

"Er… yes, you are."

"But can't I… I dunno; have lots of petticoats or something under my dress to make me look bigger?" Natalie asked, almost begging now.

"It's not just a simple matter of one dress, dearie, you have many! Nine, I believe."

"NINE! How can one character have that many costumes? Especially if she's on one journey wearing the same outfit most of the time!"

"Well, let's see," the woman responded, picking up a binder labeled 'Costumes'. She leafed through it until she found the page she had been looking for. "You have, in order of appearance: Bilbo's party dress; the Green Dragon dress, which is the same one as the whole Gandalf-finds-you-eavesdropping scene one; the main dress that you wear on the journey, but that has lots of variations as the film progresses, especially in Mordor… um, you get that dress for a while; then you have Orc gear for a couple scenes; in _Return of the King_ you have a nightie for when you wake up in Gondor after the war and see Frodo; Aragorn's coronation dress; the riding outfit on the way home to the Shire – that one has a cape, too; your wedding dress; and then a final one for the last scene, after you see Bilbo, Gandalf, and the elves depart from the Grey Havens."

Natalie blushed when the wedding dress was mentioned… the dress she would wear for Lily and Frodo's marriage… as in, _her and Elijah's _wedding.

Sinking her forehead into the palm of her hand, Natalie thought about the man who she would be spending most of her time filming with. Over the past few days of rushing to meetings and lessons, she had been with Elijah almost nonstop. They had become tentative friends, but Natalie was having trouble ignoring a small part of her that wanted to be _more _than friends.

The door to the costume building burst open, and a tall, dark-haired woman rushed in, forcing Natalie to push her thoughts away once again.

She was one of the most beautiful women Natalie had ever seen, so she knew immediately that this must be Liv Tracey, the woman cast to Arwen, a perfect choice in the casting department in Natalie's opinion.

Liv rushed to Natalie and threw her arms around her. "Omigod another girl!" she screeched. "I've met about forty men working on this thing and I was beginning to worry that you and Miranda weren't here yet. Thank goodness you are!" she continued, hugging Natalie yet again.

"Nah, Andi and I've been here for a few days already. You missed horseback riding and a campout!" Natalie laughed, sensing that she and Liv would be fast friends.

"Liv? Liv Tracey?" another measuring lady came into the room and shepherded Liv away to another room to be measured for _her_ costumes.

Smiling apologetically, Liv shouted, "Talk to ya later!" before rounding the corner.

"Sorry," Natalie said, turning back to the costume woman. "Is there anything else that you need me for?"

"Actually… do you want to see what your outfits will look like?" Natalie's face lit up as the woman brought another binder over to her chair, this time one stuffed full of sketches and fabric swatches. She leafed through the book, sometimes tracing her fingers over the patterns on the little 3" by 3" swatches. "We have some tentative outlines for all the characters. No doubt they'll change at one point, but I can give you a general idea of what you'll be wearing."

"Wait – are you Ngila Dickenson?" Natalie asked when she saw the signature in the bottom right-hand corner of all the sketches.

"Yes, that's me. I've been hired as head of the costume department – designing, sewing, making sure everything works… it also means that I get to personally measure all the main characters! Well, do you want me to tell you anything about your costumes? Or anyone else's?"

"Um… okay. Tell me about the hobbits."

"Well, hobbits are very close to nature, so I've highlighted that with natural fabrics – like cotton, wool, and linen – and strong weaves." She showed Natalie some snippets of green and brown fabric. "It's practical; you don't want to have your trousers ripping while you harvest pipeweed! The clothing is also influenced by ancient European cultures, much like hobbits themselves. Harvest colors are prominent – that means greens, yellows, and browns. Your costumes have a lot of those colors." Ngila flipped to the page showing Lily's Green Dragon dress. "You see, you've got an off-white blouse here, with a forest green skirt and a goldenrod bodice. See the close weave of the green?" She pointed to a swatch of fabric next to the sketch. "It's very intricate, too, not something that'll show up on camera, but it adds the layer of detail that we're striving for."

Natalie rubbed the soft wool in between her fingers and stared up at Ngila. There was so much thought and care put into these costumes… and she wanted to know everything! "Yeah? Tell me about all of my costumes!" Ngila laughed; she loved to see her actors admire her work.

"Ok. We have time… let's start at the beginning," she closed the binder and then reopened it up to the first page. "So your party dress… it's lots of different blues. That's another color for hobbits: blue. It's not all that common; I think only Merry has a blue vest out of all those boys. But since it's a party, and a big one at that, I've given you a white blouse with lots of ruffles – see how the sleeves are puffy but then at your elbows they are tightly gathered, leaving about four inches of draping ruffle? It's very flattering. Then you have a dark blue petticoat with a light blue skirt."

Natalie immediately fell in love with this dress. She loved the sleeve idea and wished she could have just a normal shirt for her everyday life like that. She also liked how the skirt's blue looked washed out in parts, like she had worn it a lot of times. Did they purposefully wash the white leaf—patterned fabric a million times to make it look like that? Or did they just find it the way it was?

"You've already seen the Green Dragon dress… what's next? Ah, yes. The main one. The dress you wear on the journey." Ngila stared lovingly at the pages, but then redirected her focus at Natalie. "It's very sedate compared to your earlier outfits, but I'm sure it'll do just fine. Your skirt is a dun color; a very warm tan cotton. Then you've got a blouse similar to the party one, basically the same design, except shorter ruffles on the sleeves. It's white, but a dirty white, not snow white like your earlier one.

"It's almost grey, then," Natalie cut in. "I mean, it looks like a blouse you'd wear to Mordor – one you could get dirty."

"Yes! Exactly what we were trying to get at. Then you've got a bodice that laces up the back – it's a really pale blue and white stripes. The blue sort of shimmers, too. I think you'll love it." Natalie looked down at the small patch of cloth. It _was_ pretty. "Then, to tie everything together, your coat's a darker shade of the skirt color. You only wear it when it gets to be colder, but I love the pockets. I've designed hobbits' clothes to be a bit off, you see, with the pants and skirts just under knee level and the sleeves a bit too short. Then all the pockets are set higher up than normal, so when the actor puts their hands in them, you get a funny look that's very memorable.

"You get the cloak in Lothlórien, and it's the same as all the others'. Though Peter says in some shots he wants them to look green, the actual fabric, which is right… here, is a light gray wool. It looks very nice with your bodice."

"Oh, it does!" Natalie gasped, instantly wanting to wear the ensemble.

"Now, this costume goes through a lot of changes, especially in Mordor. You start out with the costume I've just shown you, but then after the whole Orc gear thing – and I'm not going to show you that, seeing as we haven't really designed it yet – you lose the coat for good, along with the Fellowship cloak. I like to say you put it in your pack, since you have it later in the movie. Then there's always the whole you-get-all-ripped-up-during-the-course-of-the-journey thing. So your costume will go from clean to dirty and from all in one piece to torn up.

"There's also the possibility of shooting a scene where you're sleeping in just your blouse. Oh don't worry; the blouse goes down to about your knees. But like I said, we're not sure if we're shooting that scene yet." Ngila paused to take a breath and Natalie ran her hand over the sketches, her head spinning from all the effort she had gone through to make this. Ngila turned the next page, but stopped when she saw Natalie's expression. "What's the matter?"

"I guess… I guess it's all just kicking in how big this project really is…" trailing off, Natalie glanced at Ngila's concerned face. "But do keep telling me! I want to know what I'll be wearing!"

"Well, you have to know that all of this is subject to change. I'm just hoping to give you a general idea of what you'll be basically living in for the next couple of years." She turned a few more pages in the binder and then frowned. "I can't seem to find some sketches that I know I've done. Ah well. They must be in another binder. I swear, I have way too many of them. A few of your costumes we haven't designed yet, actually, I bet you won't even see them until the day of the shooting. Let's see… nope, all of these are too undeveloped to show you. But we'll be seeing quite a lot of you in this department, so maybe you can see the sketches some other time."

Natalie stood up to leave, waving to the costume designer and thanking her profusely before exiting out the door to meet Elijah for lunch like she had promised the day before.

"I'll see you in two weeks at your first fitting!" was all she heard before the door slammed shut.

**XXX**

**XXX**

Natalie tried to shift her pillow to a more comfortable position in her arms, but in the process she dropped the blue plaid boxer shorts she used as pajama bottoms. After a few minutes of struggling to pick them back up off the hallway floor while trying to keep everything else loaded in her arms from falling, Natalie gave up and made her way to the costume building.

A quick smile in Miranda's direction was all that Natalie had time for before she dropped her things and ran back to get her shorts.

As a way to welcome Liv to pre-production, Natalie and Miranda had planned a slumber party – girls only. And since the costume building was empty, away from the boys - and within walking distance - the women decided to sleep in there for the night.

Natalie returned to the circle of sleeping bags, shorts in hand. She plopped down next to her stuff and grabbed the bag of Golden Oreos she had brought. Ripping them open, she tossed a few into her mouth after setting the bag in the middle of the circle.

"Ugh. My costume lady was such a bitch!" Liv gossiped, bits of Oreo spewing from her mouth. She slapped a hand to her face and turned a shade of pink Natalie didn't think was possible. "Sorry! But did you guys think that? I mean, she was telling me that I needed to lose weight to play Arwen. 'Loose those love handles, dear,' was what she said to me. She was pushing two-hundred pounds, easy. And here she was basically telling me that I'm fat!"

"Oh, Liv, I'm sure she was just telling you that to motivate you to keep your figure while playing Arwen. You really are quite thin!" Miranda rushed to comfort her new friend.

"I totally agree with Miranda, Liv. You could be a model. The woman who measured me, she was really nice, but she told me to gain twenty-five pounds to play Lily! I'd much rather have to lose weight than gain it. You're lucky, Liv; your character is skinny."

"But why?" this came from an astonished Liv, her annoyance at her measurer disappearing at the news of Natalie's requirements.

"At some point Gollum calls me 'stupid, fat hobbit.' It wouldn't really work if I don't actually look fat!" Miranda nodded in understanding and Liv let out a small chuckle, but it was quickly smothered when Natalie gave her a despairing look.

"I suppose you could ask Peter if there is another option besides gaining weight," Miranda said thoughtfully. "You could probably wear a fat suit beneath your costume and it would look natural enough."

"Yeah, I guess. I have to talk to him about my furry feet – don't you guys think that girl hobbits would have shaved their feet? But anyways, I'll just ask him then." Suddenly, sounds of shouting could be heard in the hallway. "I thought it was supposed to be deserted over here tonight," Natalie added, turning to her friends.

"I thought so, too," Liv began, but Miranda broke in.

"That would be Peter and Stuart," she told them with a grimace. "They've been fighting a lot lately. I don't know what about, but I've seen them arguing at least three different times."

"I wonder…" Natalie trailed off, thinking of all the possibilities. "Do you think he'll still be here for filming? I rather like him… who else would play Aragorn?" Miranda shrugged, but then started laughing when she saw Liv's face.

"I haven't met Stuart yet," Liv said. "I hope he looks better than he gets along with the director. I do have to kiss him after all!"

"He is rather attractive," said Miranda. "I suppose he's got to be since both our characters fall in love with his." She suddenly gave a little laugh. "You know, Liv, I think that Éowyn is supposed to hate Arwen for being betrothed to him!"

"We're enemies, then!" Liv laughed. "I can't remember: do they both meet at some point? I can't imagine Eowyn being very happy about meeting Aragorn's future wife!"

"At the coronation you do," Natalie broke in. "_Everybody's _at the coronation!"

"But by then I'll have Faramir! You can keep your ranger, Liv, I've met David Waite and he's much cuter than Stuart!" Miranda dodged a pillow flung at her by a mock-raged Liv. "I'm _joking_, Liv! Joking!"

"Well, I…" drawing a blank on an insult to Faramir, Liv turned to Natalie, who had been attempting to smother her laughter into another pillow. "At least the man I'll marry doesn't have furry feet!" Liv hadn't acted like this since she was about thirteen. She had forgotten how much fun it was.

"But I have furry feet as well! Not that I want them… but… _hey!_ Did you just…?" Natalie never finished her comment, as she whacked Liv upside the head with her pillow.

"We really act like children," Miranda commented to nobody in particular as she lobbed a pillow of her own. "Oh, well. Pillow fight!"

**XXX**

**XXX**

A/N: I have created a blog for this story. If anybody is interested, the link is on my profile. I would appreciate any comments left by review or PM on whether or not you guys think this is a good idea and want me to continue it!


	7. On the Anduin

Chapter Seven:

One month later…

Natalie whipped her head around, water droplets from her hair splashing onto her face. Laughing, she shoved her paddle into the cold water of the river and pushed it against the current.

About fifteen people in neon orange life vests were squished uncomfortably into six canoes with a primitive look to them. Together, they were rowing down a river affectionately nicknamed 'The Anduin.' Actually, this was the river they would be shooting on many months later. But for now, all the Fellowship members, scale doubles, and rowing instructors were only here for fun. And learning, of course.

A loud splash interrupted the tranquility of New Zealand's surrounding nature. Natalie turned again, this time to see only four other boats. Where was the fifth? She caught a glimpse Billy and Dom trying to hold in their laughter before the bottom of the missing boat resurfaced and, a moment later, Orlando and John's heads, their dripping wet hair plastered to their foreheads.

"It was the elf's fault!" John shouted accusingly to the rest of the boats, making said "elf" turn a delicate shade of pink.

"Was not!" he yelled back, but his reply was lost to everyone else as they continued rowing up the river.

**XXX**

**XXX**

After the group had spent a long day playing – and learning – in the rough waters, they returned to the dock. Natalie hauled herself up the ladder so she could kneel and lean over the edge to wring out her hair. After the boat-tipping incident, two certain hobbit actors had decided that it would be extremely hilarious to try to tip other people's boats. And unfortunately, Sean Bean, who was sharing the boat with them, agreed. And since Natalie's boat, which she shared with Stuart and Elijah, was the closest one to theirs, they were upended many times.

Somehow, after the fourth time, Natalie hadn't found it all that funny anymore.

When everyone had clambered onto the dock, a man with a camera whose name Natalie couldn't remember gave them all a too-cheery smile and pushed them closer together. "It's time for documentaries!" he announced, his grin even wider. After a quick smile, Natalie turned away to find the car she had arrived in but she felt a hand on her shoulder.

When she glanced back, Elijah met her gaze and quickly motioned her away from the group with his finger. "I need to steal you for a minute," he joked.

Without a word, Natalie turned and allowed him to lead her away from the group and back down to the dock. There, the instructor was pulling the large canoes up into the soft clay, but when he saw Elijah, he gave him a small smile and a quick wink. Natalie looked between the two quizzically.

"These canoes have got to be back here by ten," the man said, tying up a third canoe, but motioning to another one farther away from the dock. "Just don't forget your life jackets, tip the boat, or go out into the rapids. I really shouldn't be letting you go out after sunset anyways."

"Good point," Natalie said to Elijah.

"What?"

"You said we'd only be a minute. We can't go out in canoe without telling Peter or Dom or someone where we are. He'd disown us, recast-"

"Firstly, I said I was going to steal you, and I am," he said, pushing a life vest into her arms. "And if I steal you, you should know better that it'd be longer than a minute."

He was beginning to scare her a little now, even if he was being funny.

"Secondly, we are allowed to go canoeing."

"Can I see your permission slip?" Natalie asked, only half-joking, as he stepped into the canoe. Elijah laughed, extending his hand to help her into it. Unsteadily, Natalie gripped it and settled her weight into the small canoe.

"I don't need one. He just said we could," he said, nodding his head back toward the instructor who had just finished tying up the last canoe and was making himself scarce. Natalie hid her smile as she sat down, but Elijah caught sight of it anyways as he picked up an oar from the boat and pushed away from the dock. Natalie saw no point in fighting it now.

But what was the purpose of bringing her out in the middle of the river? Sure, she and Elijah had quickly become great friends, but they had never done anything just the two of them. Not anything not related to filming, that is. Natalie reflected back on the thoughts she had had when she first met Elijah. She couldn't deny that she had felt an attraction to him, but she had thought that those feelings had gone away and been replaced by a great friendship. Now, out here on what was seeming more and more like a date. At least, that's the way Natalie was feeling about it. She didn't know how Elijah felt – he was still silent, staring out at the water. Natalie felt that tension of I-think-I-like-him-now-what come creeping back.

Soon, the canoe was flowing slowly and calmly with the current of their Anduin, and Elijah abandoned the oar to the bottom of the boat as soon as they had reached the middle of the river. Natalie wasn't sure what was going to happen next. He was keeping her on the edge of her seat and alert, and if he didn't do something soon other than just look at her, she might burst.

"So… what's with the canoe ride?" she asked to break the silence.

"Oh, I don't know. Just feeling the stress of getting ready for this movie and wanted to relax." Elijah grinned at Natalie and leaned back in the canoe, folding his arms beneath his head. "I thought the sunset might be pretty out here on the river."

Natalie's head was still spinning with the awkwardness of being alone with him, so she simply said, "Okay." She leaned back and watched the sky turn pink and orange.

After a few minutes of silence that served to sooth Natalie's nerves, Elijah spoke again. "I know this all must be kind of freaking you out," he said. "I mean, everyone else here is pretty experienced. We've been doing this kind of stuff forever – I mean, this movie is way more intensive than anything I've ever done before, but at least I knew what to expect for the most part."

"Well, yeah, I guess it kind of is. It's all going by so fast, though. I hardly have time to catch my breath, so I haven't really thought about it too much."

Elijah sat up and met Natalie's gaze. "I guess I brought you out here to ask how you're doing… I've kind of taken you under my wing, and I wanted to make sure that you aren't completely overwhelmed." He smiled, crinkling the corners of his eyes. "And the hard part hasn't even begun yet! I just wanted to make sure that you knew that I'm always here if you want to talk about anything or if you're confused or just… anything."

"Aw, Elijah! That's so sweet of you." Natalie reached over and gave him a quick hug. "I'm doing pretty much alright for now, but it's nice to know that I can turn to you as we start filming… I can't believe we shoot our first scene next week!" She gave a short laugh, but then they were met with silence once again.

Elijah was still looking into her eyes. Natalie felt a blush creep up her face, but she couldn't make herself break the gaze. "Um…" she started to say, but was interrupted as Elijah pulled her close and kissed her.

It was a short kiss, and Natalie didn't feel the storybook fireworks, but she did feel a zing of warmth travel down her body. Before Natalie's mind could catch up with the things her body was feeling, Elijah broke the kiss and leaned back, almost shoving her away.

"I'm… sorry," he sputtered, dropping his face into his hands. "I… I don't know what came over me. I'm so sorry, that was so inappropriate." He raked his fingers through his hair, making it stand up funny. "I… I can't believe I did that. I'm so sorry. Will you forgive me?" He looked up at Natalie, who was still slightly stunned at what had just happened.

"Um… of course. Don't even think about it," she mumbled. She had no complaints about the kiss, and really wouldn't mind kissing him more, but she sensed that she should keep quiet about her feelings right then.

"Oh, gosh, thanks. I mean – not that I don't think you're great – I mean, ack, I'm sorry. What I mean to say is that you've become such a great friend, Nat, and I really hope I didn't just screw that all up."

"It's okay," Natalie said. "I really value your friendship too. Let's just…"

"Can we pretend that this never happened? I feel like such an idiot," Elijah cut in. The look on his face was so worried that Natalie almost laughed at him. For a moment, she considered telling him her true feelings, that she actually really liked that he kissed her, but she bit back her words in realization that he really didn't want to pursue that kind of relationship with her.

"Alright. Still friends?"

"Of course! We _are_ still Lily and Frodo, Bearers of Doom! Up here!" Natalie laughed, giving him his high-five.

"Well, you bear it more," she said.

"Doesn't matter," Elijah laughed. "You get it for a little while," he said in reference to the Ring.

"Yes, but I'm distraught over your seemingly untimely death," she said. "And so conveniently before we get to the mountain, too."

"Sorry; I admit it. I had it planned the whole time," he said sarcastically. "Had Gollum go arrange it with Shelob the night before…"

"Ah, a conspiracy, eh?"

"You're not supposed to tell!"

Natalie laughed at his joking and felt some of the tension go away. She hoped that they _could _really forget about this and go back to being best friends. They had a long fifteen months of shooting to go, and she hoped that their attraction to each other wouldn't get in the way of their friendship again. As much as she wanted to act on those feelings, she knew that following that path could only lead to disaster.

"So, are we good?" Elijah asked her, breaking into her thoughts.

"We're good," she agreed. "Ready to head back?"

"Only if you are."

"Well, I'd like to have dinner tonight, if you catch my drift…"

"Say no more," he said, picking up the oar.


End file.
